Tonghua [II. III] Incident

Author: Lü Minghui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: 6 Although when Japan's Kwantung Army launched the "September 18th Incident," Chiang Kai-shek adopted a policy of non-resistance, personally ordering General Zhang Xueliang to lead the Northeast Army to withdraw from Manchuria, handing over the vast lands of the three provinces of Northeast China to the Japanese. However, when the Japanese Empire showed signs of collapse in 1945, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government was eager to seize Northeast China before the Communist Party. Chiang felt powerless because his troops were deployed far away from Northeast China and could not be quickly moved there. Therefore, Chiang's strategy for Northeast China at the time was: to directly take over Northeast China from the Soviet Red Army after signing the old "Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty" with the Soviet Union and having the Red Army occupy it. According to Article 12 of the old "Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty," once the Soviet Red Army engaged in combat against Japan, Chiang Kai-shek's government officials would be air-dropped to Northeast China to carry out three tasks in the recovered territories: 1. Establish administrative organs in areas where the enemy had been suppressed in accordance with Chinese law; 2. Assist in establishing Chinese troops (including regular and irregular forces) in the recovered Chinese territories; 3. Ensure active cooperation between the Chinese administrative organs and the commander-in-chief of the Soviet army. To utilize the old "Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty" to seize Northeast China, in July 1945, Chiang Kai-shek planned to establish the "Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast Security Command," appointing Xiong Shihui as the director of the operations office, preparing to take over Northeast China from the Soviet Red Army. Chiang Kai-shek's plan seemed good, but after the Soviet Red Army engaged in combat against Japan, his plan was temporarily difficult to realize because the Nationalists had no troops in Northeast China at the time, not even able to form the "military delegation" required by the "Sino-Soviet Friendship Treaty" to be sent to the headquarters of the Soviet army. Moreover, the headquarters of the Communist-led Eighth Route Army issued seven consecutive orders, with large numbers of Eighth Route Army troops and administrative cadres rapidly advancing into Northeast China, showing a "strike first" attitude. In this situation, Chiang was unwilling to let the Communist army take over Northeast China and urgently issued several orders on August 11. The main contents were: 1. Ordered provincial and municipal governments and commanders of various battle zones: "The exact date of Japan's surrender should be announced simultaneously by our country and the allies. Before the government announcement, the work of the entire nation's military and civilians should remain as if at war, without any negligence." 2. Ordered puppet troops stationed in North China, Northeast China, and Central China: "You should stay in your current locations, in peaceful areas, seize the opportunity to atone for your sins and strive for self-redemption; without the approval of this commander-in-chief, you may not move your troops or be reorganized by any other units." 3. Ordered the Communist-led Eighth Route Army and the various anti-Japanese forces in the liberated areas: "All units under this group army should remain in place and await orders, and the units operating within the battle zones should be under the jurisdiction of the commanders of those battle zones; the government has coordinated and decided on matters such as disarming the enemy, collecting captured enemy soldiers, handling puppet troops, and restoring recovered areas, as well as exercising state power, and has issued separate orders for implementation. To uphold the dignity of national orders and strictly adhere to the provisions of the joint agreement with allied countries, all units must refrain from taking independent actions." 4. Ordered the mother party's troops: "Step up efforts in combat, and everything should be carried out according to the."